Shocking? Hardly. “Fallen” had super-strong ticket presales going in. And like “The Phantom Menace” before it, a gaudy, popularized, special-effects spectacle will draw big crowds it’s first time out no matter how harsh the reviews.

America really wanted to see “Fallen” and be part of something big. And like Ebert says, it really is “the biggest something of all time.”

— My Twitter page would say “Fallen” was an even bigger something of all time.